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September 4, 2013

Wells Adds 5 Advisors, Nearly $1B in Assets From Rivals

Securities America adds an advisor with $137 million in assets from Financial Telesis

Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco. (Photo: AP)

Wells Fargo (WFC) said Tuesday it recruited five advisors from UBS (UBS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) with a total of $966 million in client assets. All of the advisors joined Wells’ Private Client Group.

The advisor team of William Black, Courtenay Hathcock and Frederick Rossetter moved from UBS to Wells Fargo and will be based out of the New York-Penn Center branch.

Together, they have 64 years of industry experience in the industry and $418 million in client assets. They report to branch manager Ted Geller.

Also moving to Wells from UBS is Lou Walsh, who has 17 years of experience and $287 million in client assets. Walsh now works in Jacksonville, Fla., and reports to complex manager Joe Bruno.

Moving to Wells from Morgan Stanley is Eric Zakarin, who has 26 years of industry experience and $261 million in client assets. Zakarin is working out of Wells’ Westfield, N.J., office and reports to complex manager Bill Drake.

As of June 30, Wells Fargo had 18,608 registered reps, of which 15,268 are financial advisors, 2,930 are in-bank advisors and the remainder — 408 — work with clients via phone.

Securities America

Independent financial advisor Gregory O’Donnell of the O’Donnell Financial Group in Larkspur, Calif., and six other advisors joined Securities America, a unit of Ladenburg Thalmann (LTS) with about 2,700 reps, last Wednesday.

“With such a strong footprint in the San Francisco area, and a broad reach with their unique radio show, we are excited to welcome Greg O’Donnell and his practice to the Securities America family,” said Gregg Johnson, senior vice president of branch office development and acquisitions, in a press release.

O’Donnell Financial has some $1.4 million in annual revenue and $137 million in client assets. It was previously affiliated with Financial Telesis of San Raphael, Calif.

“It was important to partner with an experienced leader in the broker-dealer world to provide us the support and product offerings we require to continue to grow and expand our business,” said O’Donnell, in a statement. “As a leading broker-dealer in the industry, Securities America is a known entity that I can trust to support my endeavors.”